Earth exploration, the investigation of the surface of the Earth and of its interior.

The planet Earth.

NASA

Satellite image of Cozumel, Mexico.

Robert Simmon/NASA

By the beginning of the 20th century most of the Earth’s surface had been explored, at least superficially, except for the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Today the last of the unmarked areas on land maps have been filled in by radar and photographic mapping from aircraft and satellites. One of the last areas to be mapped was the Darién peninsula between the Panama Canal and Colombia. Heavy clouds, steady rain, and dense jungle vegetation made its exploration difficult, but airborne radar was able to penetrate the cloud cover to produce reliable, detailed maps of the area. In recent years data returned by Earth satellites have led to several notable discoveries, as, for example, drainage patterns in the Sahara, which are relics of a period when this region was not arid.

Satellite image of Scoresby Sund, Greenland.

Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC

Historically, exploration of the Earth’s interior was confined to the near surface, and this was largely a matter of following downward those discoveries made at the surface. Most present-day scientific knowledge of the subject has been obtained through geophysical research conducted since World War II, and the deep Earth remains a major frontier in the 21st century.

Exploration of space and the ocean depths has been facilitated by the placement of sensors and related devices in these regions. Only a very limited portion of the subsurface regions of the Earth, however, can be studied in this way. Investigators can drill into only the uppermost crust, and the high cost severely limits the number of holes that can be drilled. The deepest borehole so far drilled extends only to a depth of about 10 kilometres (6 miles). Because direct exploration is so restricted, investigators are forced to rely extensively on geophysical measurements (see below Methodology and instrumentation).

Primary objectives and accomplishments

Scientific curiosity, the desire to understand better the nature of the Earth, is a major motive for exploring its surface and subsurface regions. Another key motive is the prospect of economic profit. Improved standards of living have increased the demand for water, fuel, and other materials, creating economic incentives. Pure knowledge has often been a by-product of profit-motivated exploration; by the same token, substantial economic benefits have resulted from the quest for scientific knowledge.

Many surface and subsurface exploratory projects are undertaken with the aim of locating: (1) oil, natural gas, and coal; (2) concentrations of commercially important minerals (for example, ores of iron, copper, and uranium) and deposits of building materials (sand, gravel, etc.); (3) recoverable groundwater; (4) various rock types at different depths for engineering planning; (5) geothermal reserves for heating and electricity; and (6) archaeological features.

Concern for safety has prompted extensive searches for possible hazards before major construction projects are undertaken. Sites for dams, power plants, nuclear reactors, factories, tunnels, roads, hazardous waste depositories, and so forth need to be stable and provide assurance that underlying formations will not shift or slide from the weight of the construction, move along a fault during an earthquake, or permit the seepage of water or wastes. Accordingly, prediction and control of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are major fields of research in the United States and Japan, countries susceptible to such hazards. Geophysical surveys furnish a more complete picture than test boreholes alone, although some boreholes are usually drilled to verify the geophysical interpretation.

Methodology and instrumentation

Geophysical techniques involve measuring reflectivity, magnetism, gravity, acoustic or elastic waves, radioactivity, heat flow, electricity, and electromagnetism. Most measurements are made on the surface of the land or sea, but some are taken from aircraft or satellites, and still others are made underground in boreholes or mines and at ocean depths.

Geophysical mapping depends on the existence of a difference in physical properties of adjacent bodies of rock—i.e., between whatever is being sought and those of the surroundings. Often the difference is provided by something associated with but other than what is being sought. Examples include a configuration of sedimentary layers that form a trap for oil accumulation, a drainage pattern that might affect groundwater flow, or a dike or host rock where minerals may be concentrated. Different methods depend on different physical properties. Which particular method is used is determined by what is being sought. In most cases, however, data from a combination of methods rather than from simply one method yield a much clearer picture.

This comprises measurements of electromagnetic radiation from the ground, usually of reflected energy in various spectral ranges measured from aircraft or satellites. Remote sensing encompasses aerial photography and other kinds of measurements that are generally displayed in the form of photograph-like images. Its applications involve a broad range of studies, including cartographic, botanical, geological, and military investigations.

Remote-sensing techniques involve using combinations of images. Images from different flight paths can be combined to allow an interpreter to perceive features in three dimensions, while those in different spectral bands may identify specific types of rock, soil, vegetation, and other entities, where species have distinctive reflectance values in different spectral regions (i.e., tone signatures). Images taken at intervals make it possible to observe changes that occur over time, such as the seasonal growth of a crop or changes wrought by a storm or flood. Those taken at different times of the day or at different sun angles may reveal quite distinct features; for example, seafloor features in relatively shallow water in a calm sea can be mapped when the Sun is high. Radar radiation penetrates clouds and thus permits mapping from above them. Side-looking airborne radar (SLAR) is sensitive to changes in land slope and surface roughness. By registering images from adjacent flight paths, synthetic stereo pairs may give ground elevations.

Thermal infrared energy is detected by an optical-mechanical scanner. The detector is cooled by a liquid-nitrogen (or liquid-helium) jacket that encloses it, making the instrument sensitive at long wavelengths and isolating it from heat radiation from the immediate surroundings. A rotating mirror directs radiation coming from various directions onto the sensor. An image can be created by displaying the output in a form synchronized with the direction of the beam (as with a cathode-ray tube). Infrared radiation permits mapping surface temperatures to a precision of less than a degree and thus shows the effects of phenomena that produce temperature variations, such as groundwater movement.

Landsat images are among the most commonly used. They are produced with data obtained from a multispectral scanner carried aboard certain U.S. Landsat satellites orbiting the Earth at an altitude of about 900 kilometres. Images covering an area of 185 kilometres square are available for every segment of the Earth’s surface. Scanner measurements are made in four spectral bands: green and red in the visible portion of the spectrum, and two infrared bands. The data are usually displayed by arbitrarily assigning different colours to the bands and then superimposing these to make “false-colour” images.

Image of a portion of the Magdalena River valley in Colombia, transmitted by Landsat (formerly …

In geology, Landsat images are used to delineate landforms, rock outcrops and surface lithology, structural features, hydrothermal areas, and sites of mineral resources. Changes in vegetation revealed in the images may distinguish different soil types, subtle elevation differences, subsurface water distribution, subcropping rocks, and trace element distribution, among other things. Lineations of features may distinguish folded-rock strata or fault ruptures even where the primary features are not evident.

Magnetic methods

Measurements can be made of the Earth’s total magnetic field or of components of the field in various directions. The oldest magnetic prospecting instrument is the magnetic compass, which measures the field direction. Other instruments include magnetic balances and fluxgate magnetometers. Most magnetic surveys are made with proton-precession or optical-pumping magnetometers, which are appreciably more accurate. The proton magnetometer measures a radio-frequency voltage induced in a coil by the reorientation (precession) of magnetically polarized protons in a container of ordinary water. The optical-pumping magnetometer makes use of the principles of nuclear resonance and cesium or rubidium vapour. It can detect minute magnetic fluctuations by measuring the effects of light-induced (optically pumped) transitions between atomic energy levels that are dependent on magnetic field strength.

Magnetic surveys are usually made with magnetometers borne by aircraft flying in parallel lines spaced two to four kilometres apart at an elevation of about 500 metres (one metre = 3.28 feet) when exploring for petroleum deposits and in lines 0.5 to one kilometre apart roughly 200 metres above the ground when searching for mineral concentrations. Ground surveys are conducted to follow up magnetic anomaly discoveries made from the air. Such surveys may involve stations spaced only 50 metres apart. Magnetometers also are towed by research vessels. In some cases, two or more magnetometers displaced a few metres from each other are used in a gradiometer arrangement; differences between their readings indicate the magnetic field gradient. A ground monitor is usually used to measure the natural fluctuations of the Earth’s field over time so that corrections can be made. Surveying is generally suspended during periods of large magnetic fluctuation (magnetic storms).

Magnetic effects result primarily from the magnetization induced in susceptible rocks by the Earth’s magnetic field. Most sedimentary rocks have very low susceptibility and thus are nearly transparent to magnetism. Accordingly, in petroleum exploration magnetics are used negatively: magnetic anomalies indicate the absence of explorable sedimentary rocks. Magnetics are used for mapping features in igneous and metamorphic rocks, possibly faults, dikes, or other features that are associated with mineral concentrations. Data are usually displayed in the form of a contour map of the magnetic field, but interpretation is often made on profiles.

Rocks cannot retain magnetism when the temperature is above the Curie point (about 500° C for most magnetic materials), and this restricts magnetic rocks to the upper 40 kilometres of the Earth’s interior. The source of the geomagnetic field must be deeper than this, and it is now believed that convection currents of conducting material in the outer core generate the field. These currents couple to the Earth’s spin, so that the magnetic field—when averaged over time—is oriented along the planet’s axis. The currents gradually change with time in a somewhat erratic manner and their aggregate effect sometimes reverses, which explains the time changes in the Earth’s field. This is the crux of the magnetohydrodynamic theory of the geomagnetic field (see also Earth: Sources of the steady magnetic field).

Gravity methods

The gravity field of the Earth can be measured by timing the free fall of an object in a vacuum, by measuring the period of a pendulum, or in various other ways. Today almost all gravity surveying is done with gravimeters. Such an instrument typically consists of a weight attached to a spring that stretches or contracts corresponding to an increase or decrease in gravity. It is designed to measure differences in gravity accelerations rather than absolute magnitudes. Gravimeters used in geophysical surveys have an accuracy of about 0.01 milligal (mgal; 1 mgal = 0.001 centimetre per second per second). That is to say, they are capable of detecting differences in the Earth’s gravitational field as small as one part in 100,000,000.

Gravity differences occur because of local density differences. Anomalies of exploration interest are often about 0.2 mgal. Data have to be corrected for variations due to elevation (one metre is equivalent to about 0.2 mgal), latitude (100 metres are equivalent to about 0.08 mgal), and other factors. Gravity surveys on land often involve meter readings every kilometre along traverse loops a few kilometres across. It takes only a few minutes to read a gravimeter, but determining location and elevation accurately requires much effort. Inertial navigation is sometimes used for determining elevation and location when helicopters are employed to transport gravimeters. Marine gravimeters are mounted on inertial platforms when used on surface vessels. A ship’s speed and direction affect gravimeter readings and limit survey accuracy. Aircraft undergo too many accelerations to permit gravity measurements except for regional studies.

In most cases, the density of sedimentary rocks increases with depth because the increased pressure results in a loss of porosity. Uplifts usually bring denser rocks nearer the surface and thereby create positive gravity anomalies. Faults that displace rocks of different densities also can cause gravity anomalies. Salt domes generally produce negative anomalies because salt is less dense than the surrounding rocks. Such folds, faults, and salt domes trap oil, and so the detection of gravity anomalies associated with them is crucial in petroleum exploration. Moreover, gravity measurements are occasionally used to evaluate the amount of high-density mineral present in an ore body. They also provide a means of locating hidden caverns, old mine workings, and other subterranean cavities.

Seismic refraction methods

Seismic methods are based on measurements of the time interval between initiation of a seismic (elastic) wave and its arrival at detectors. The seismic wave may be generated by an explosion, a dropped weight, a mechanical vibrator, a bubble of high-pressure air injected into water, or other sources. The seismic wave is detected by a Geophone on land or by a hydrophone in water. An electromagnetic Geophone generates a voltage when a seismic wave produces relative motion of a wire coil in the field of a magnet, whereas a ceramic hydrophone generates a voltage when deformed by passage of a seismic wave. Data are usually recorded on magnetic tape for subsequent processing and display.

Seismic energy travels from source to detector by many paths. When near the source, the initial seismic energy generally travels by the shortest path, but as source– Geophone distances become greater, seismic waves travelling by longer paths through rocks of higher seismic velocity may arrive earlier. Such waves are called head waves, and the refraction method involves their interpretation. From a plot of travel time as a function of source–Geophone distance, the number, thicknesses, and velocities of rock layers present can be determined for simple situations. The assumptions usually made are that (1) each layer is homogeneous and isotropic (i.e., has the same velocity in all directions); (2) the boundaries (interfaces) between layers are nearly planar; and (3) each successive layer has higher velocity than the one above. The velocity values determined from time–distance plots depend also on the dip (slope) of interfaces, apparent velocities increasing when the Geophones are updip from the source and decreasing when downdip. By measuring in both directions the dip and rock velocity, each can be determined. With sufficient measurements, relief on the interfaces separating the layers also can be ascertained.

High-velocity bodies of local extent can be located by fan shooting. Travel times are measured along different azimuths from a source, and an abnormally early arrival time indicates that a high-velocity body was encountered at that azimuth. This method has been used to detect salt domes, reefs, and intrusive bodies that are characterized by higher seismic velocity than the surrounding rock.

Two types of seismic waves can travel through a body: P waves (primary) and S waves (secondary).P waves are compressional waves and travel at the highest velocity; hence, they arrive first. S waves are shear waves that travel at a slower rate and are not able to pass through liquids that do not possess shear strength. In addition, there are several types of seismic waves that can travel along surfaces. A major type of surface wave is the Rayleigh wave, in which a particle moves in an elliptical path in the vertical plane from the source. The horizontal component of Rayleigh waves is probably the principal cause of damage from earthquakes. Love waves are another type of surface wave; they involve shear motion. Still other varieties of surface waves can be transmitted through low-velocity layers (channel waves) or along the surface of a borehole (tube waves). Under certain circumstances (e.g., oblique incidence on an interface), waves can change from one mode to another.

Most of the current knowledge about the Earth’s internal constitution is derived from analysis of the time–distance curves from earthquakes. Earthquakes usually generate several wave modes. These refract and reflect at interfaces within the Earth and partially change to other wave types to add to the number of seismic waves resulting from an earthquake. Different wave types can sometimes be distinguished by their components of motion detected by three-component seismographs; the direction from which they come can be determined by using an array of seismographs at the receiving station or by combining the data from different stations. The first wave motion from an earthquake reveals the nature of earth motion involved in the earthquake.

Very shallow seismic refraction is extensively used in engineering studies. Sometimes the energy source for shallow-penetration engineering studies involves simply hitting the ground with a sledgehammer. The ease with which a rock can be ripped by a bulldozer relates to the rock’s seismic velocity. S-wave velocity measurements are of special interest to engineers because building stability depends on the shear strength of the foundation rock or soil. Seismic waves may be used for various other purposes. They are employed, for example, to detect faults that may disrupt a coal seam or fractures that may allow water penetration into a tunnel.

Seismic reflection methods

Most seismic work utilizes reflection techniques. Sources and Geophones are essentially the same as those used in refraction methods. The concept is similar to echo sounding: seismic waves are reflected at interfaces where rock properties change and the round-trip travel time, together with velocity information, gives the distance to the interface. The relief on the interface can be determined by mapping the reflection at many locations. For simple situations the velocity can be determined from the change in arrival time as source–Geophone distance changes.

In practice, the seismic reflection method is much more complicated. Reflections from most of the many interfaces within the Earth are very weak and so do not stand out against background noise. The reflections from closely spaced interfaces interfere with each other. Reflections from interfaces with different dips, seismic waves that bounce repeatedly between interfaces (“multiples”), converted waves, and waves travelling by other modes interfere with desired reflections. Also, velocity irregularities bend seismic rays in ways that are sometimes complicated.

The objective of most seismic work is to map geologic structure by determining the arrival time of reflectors. Changes in the amplitude and waveshape, however, contain information about stratigraphic changes and occasionally hydrocarbon accumulations. In some cases, seismic patterns can be identified with depositional systems, unconformities, channels, and other features.

The seismic reflection method usually gives better resolution (i.e., makes it possible to see smaller features) than other methods, with the exception of measurements made in close proximity, as with borehole logs (see below). Appreciably more funds are expended on seismic reflection work than on all other geophysical methods combined.

Electrical and electromagnetic methods

A multitude of electrical methods are used in mineral exploration. They depend on (1) electrochemical activity, (2) resistivity changes, or (3) permittivity effects. Some materials tend to become natural batteries that generate natural electric currents whose effects can be measured. The self-potential method relies on the oxidation of the upper surface of metallic sulfide minerals by downward-percolating groundwater to become a natural battery; current flows through the ore body and back through the surrounding groundwater, which acts as the electrolyte. Measuring the natural voltage differences (usually 50–400 millivolts [mV]) permits detecting continuous metallic sulfide bodies that lie astride the water table. Graphite, magnetite, anthracite, some pyritized rocks, and other phenomena also can generate self-potentials.

The passage of an electric current across an interface where conduction changes from ionic to electronic results in a charge buildup at the interface. This charge builds up shortly after current flow begins, and it takes a short time to decay after the current circuit is broken. Such an effect is measured in induced-polarization methods and is used to detect sulfide ore bodies.

Resistivity methods involve passing a current from a generator or other electric power source between a pair of current electrodes and measuring potential differences with another pair of electrodes. Various electrode configurations are used to determine the apparent resistivity from the voltage/current ratio. The resistivity of most rocks varies with porosity, the salinity of the interstitial fluid, and certain other factors. Rocks containing appreciable clay usually have low resistivity. The resistivity of rocks containing conducting minerals such as sulfide ores and graphitized or pyritized rocks depends on the connectivity of the minerals present. Resistivity methods also are used in engineering and groundwater surveys, because resistivity often changes markedly at soil/bedrock interfaces, at the water table, and at a fresh/saline water boundary.

Investigators can determine how resistivity varies over a given area by means of profiling methods, in which the location of an array of electrodes is altered but the same spacing between the component electrodes is maintained. Sounding methods enable investigators to pinpoint variations of resistivity with depth. In this case, electrode spacing is increased and, correspondingly, the effective depth of the contributing section. Several other techniques are commonly employed. Equipotential methods entail mapping equipotential lines that result from a current. Distortions from a systematic pattern indicate the presence of a body of different resistivity. The mise-a-la-masse method involves putting one current electrode in an ore body in order to map its shape and location.

The passage of current in the general frequency range of 500–5,000 hertz (Hz) induces in the Earth electromagnetic waves of long wavelength, which have considerable penetration into the Earth’s interior. The effective penetration can be changed by altering the frequency. Eddy currents are induced where conductors are present, and these currents generate an alternating magnetic field, which induces in a receiving coil a secondary voltage that is out of phase with the primary voltage. Electromagnetic methods involve measuring this out-of-phase component or other effects, which makes it possible to locate low-resistivity ore bodies wherein the eddy currents are generated.

Natural currents are induced in the Earth as a result of atmospheric disturbances (e.g., lightning strikes) and bombardment of the upper atmosphere by the solar wind—a radial flow of protons, electrons, and nuclei of heavier elements emanating from the outer region of the Sun. Magnetotelluric methods measure orthogonal components of the electric and magnetic fields induced by these natural currents. Such measurements allow researchers to determine resistivity as a function of depth. The natural currents span a broad range of frequencies and thus a range of effective penetration depths. Related to the above techniques is the telluric-current method, in which the electric current variations are measured simultaneously at two stations. Comparison of the data permits determining differences in the apparent resistivity with depth at the two stations.

Electrical methods generally do not penetrate far into the Earth, and so do not yield much information about its deeper parts. They do, however, provide a valuable tool of exploring for many metal ores.

In addition, several electrical methods are used in boreholes. The self-potential (SP) log indicates mainly clay (shale) content, because an electrochemical cell is established at the shale boundary when the salinity of the borehole (drilling) fluid differs from that of the water in the rock. Resistivity measurements are made by using several electrode configurations and also by induction. Borehole methods are used to identify the rocks penetrated by a borehole and to determine their properties, especially their porosity and the nature of their interstitial fluids.

Radioactive methods

Radioactive surveys are used to detect ores or rock bodies associated with radioactive materials. Most natural radioactivity derives from uranium, thorium, and a radioisotope of potassium (potassium-40), as well as from radon gas. Radioactive elements are concentrated chiefly in the upper portion of the Earth’s crust.

Radioactive disintegration, or decay, gives rise to spontaneous emission of alpha and beta particles and gamma rays. Detection is usually of gamma rays, and it is accomplished in most cases with a scintillometer, a photoconversion device containing a crystal of sodium iodide that emits a photon (minute packet of electromagnetic radiation) when struck by a gamma ray. The photon, whose intensity is proportional to the energy of the gamma ray, causes an adjacent photocathode to emit electrons, the exact number depending on the energy of the photon. The energy of the gamma ray itself is determined by the nature of the radioactive disintegration involved.

Where it can be assumed that a product element of a radioactive disintegration (a daughter isotope) is derived solely from the disintegration of a parent isotope that occurred after a rock’s solidification (i.e., as the rock cooled through its Curie point), the ratio of the parent/daughter isotopes present depends on the time since solidification. This often provides the basis for age determinations of rocks.

Information about the mineral composition and physical properties of a rock formation can be obtained by means of gamma-ray logging, a technique that involves measuring natural gamma-ray emissions in boreholes. In most sedimentary rocks, for example, potassium-40 is the principal emitter of gamma rays. Because potassium is generally associated with clays, a recording of gamma-ray emissions permits determination of clay (shale) content. In another related technique, the rock surrounding a borehole is bombarded by a radioactive source in the logging sonde and the effects of the reactions caused by the bombardment are measured. In a density log measurements are made of gamma rays that are backscattered from the rock formation, since their intensity indicates rock density. A neutron source is employed in another type of borehole log, one that is designed to reveal how much fluid occurs in a rock formation or how porous it is. Neutron energy loss is directly related to the density of protons (hydrogen nuclei) in rock, which is in turn reflective of its water content (or degree of porosity). These borehole logging techniques are used often in the oil and natural gas industries to assist in the exploration and determination of reservoirs.

Geothermal methods

Temperature-gradient measurements are sometimes made to detect heat-flow anomalies; however, most exploration for geothermal resources (e.g., superheated water and steam) is done with indirect methods. Resistivity or seismic methods, for example, may be used to map the magma chamber, which is the source of the heat, or to detect faults or other features that control the flow of hot subsurface water.

Geochemical methods

Since the early 1970s researchers have developed extremely sensitive methods of chemical analysis, providing the ability to detect minute amounts of materials. Many chemical elements are transported in very small quantities by fluids flowing in the Earth, so that a systematic measurement of such trace elements may help in locating their sources. Trace elements are sometimes associated with hydrocarbons (the principal constituents of petroleum, natural gas, and other fossil fuels); they can be utilized for identifying the specific types of hydrocarbons present in a given area. Geochemical soil maps of small areas or whole countries are used to locate industrial wastes, areas of soil contamination, and sites of pollution discharge to rivers.

Excavation, boring, and sampling

Direct sampling, usually by means of boreholes, is required to make positive identification of ores, fuels, and other materials. It is also necessary for determining their quantity and for selecting methods of recovery. Most deep boreholes are drilled by the rotary method, in which a drill bit is rotated while fluid (“drilling mud”) is circulated through the bit to lubricate and cool it and to bring rock chips to the surface where they can be collected and analyzed. Shallow boreholes in hard rock formations are sometimes drilled by a percussion method, whereby a heavy bit is repeatedly raised and dropped to chip away pieces of rock. After a borehole has been drilled, various tools—sondes—are lowered into the hole to measure different physical properties.